Ken Narita's First Album from 1971

 

So thanks to our friend PR for covering my holidays as a locum-- I appreciated the respite from the chores of posting, and let it be said most of my summer is still unfortunately spent babysitting young children who are still not yet, thanks be to god, addicted to social media and the internet in general plus texting on their phones.  Yes, let it be said there is much to recommend the innocence of childhood-- by innocence I mean unexposed to the uber-idiotic youtube that is.  And I suppose I have some of that childhood spirit too since I wish said summer holiday would last much much longer, without the intrusion of electronics.  PR? Not in the Cape again are you?

As I mentioned before in relation to his 1972 album, this one is not quite as strong, but still pleasant in the usual early 70s SSW Japanese style (as in the early Fukamachi I posted).  Note it's not recorded in the database.

Ken Narita's 1972 album

Another fabulous pop-rock Japanese SSW monster discovered by my friend, let those blissful finds keep on a-truckin'...  Narita-san seems to have made a few back in the day, at least one other album preceding this was disappointing for me and very simple in composition compared to the intricacy in evidence on this parcel, which in contrast is colored in by some really jaw-dropping arrangements in the standard seventies-pop manner.

The song about "green" really grew on me, with its repeated melancholy minor verse resolving into a Carpenters-like chorus (Superstar, maybe?), surrounded by an outrageously well charted string section, with harp tinkling and electric guitar soloing all over the place around the singing.





 A few songs are just as good.  Similar, really, to School Band, but less dynamic.
Great little gem.  Thanks a million!